Community Conversation: Powerful and Dangerous

As part of our Voices and Votes exhibition, the Alice Austen House invites you to join a Community Conversation exploring the enduring themes of liberty, freedom, and the ongoing struggle for equality. Community Conversation programs encourage New Yorkers from across the state to share their thoughts and experiences and build community through understanding.

Facilitated by Joseph Murphy from Humanities New York, this conversation will be built around former Staten Island resident Audre Lorde’s poem “On My Way Out I Passed Over Youand the Verrazano Bridge”. Lorde was a resident of the North Shore of Staten Island for 17 years, raising her two children there with her partner Fancis Clayton. Her words have inspired so many as a call to action to fight for equality and justice. The Alice Austen House has current local school programs inspired by Lorde’s writing and will extend our inquiry into the impact and questions generated by her powerful words in the “Verrazano Bridge” poem written in 1985.

This event is open to everyone—community members, students, educators, activists, and anyone interested in exploring the challenges and triumphs that have attended American democracy since its inception. This particular conversation will be anchored in both a reading of Lorde’s poem and the image of Lorde beside a blackboard with the words Women are Powerful and Dangerous. Out of concern for privacy and for creating an atmosphere and trust and respect, this conversation will not be recorded.

Host or Publisher Alice Austen House